Saturday, 30 January 2016

Over £30,000 raised during 2015Today was the chance for the community of Old Buckenham to pass over all the money they have raised in 2015 to the St Martins Housing Trust.St Martins is based in Norwich and aims to look after the needs of homeless people in Norwich and Norfolk. For many years now the people of Old Buckenham have been raising money for the charity and during 2015 the total was the largest yet -totalling £30,241.48. The largest portion of this sum came from donations, supermarket and office collections, and a small legacy. The Old Buckenham 2000 Trust raised £1,1oo by organising a pre-Christmas visit of Father Christmas and his elves to Sainsbury's store in Attleborough while the collection at the Christmas Eve candlelit carol service in All Saints, Old Buckenham, provided a further £510.Many of those involved in the fundraising were present in the Old Buckenham Church Rooms to enjoy some tasty refreshments and to hear Derek Player, general manager of St Martins, talk about how the money would be used and how the number of those rough sleeping in Norwich has recently shown a definite increase.The photographer from the EDP was there to take photos of Derek Player and Maria Pratt (Bishopbridge House manager) along with Mark Standley and Elaine Penney of Sainsbury's Attleborough store displaying the cheques that had been presented. An article and picture appeared on page 12 of the EDP on Monday 1 February.